We Are Family
by maximum-calories
Summary: nothing to do with the song..
1. Prologue: A happy start

**Hey! Well this is just a random idea I got and decided to make a story out of it. I won't tell you what the idea is so you'll just have to wait a few chapters. You'll find out soon enough though. This story does not match with MR3... so I guess this kinda takes off after MR2. PS. There is Fax in this! Major Fax!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing...except fang's heart (lol...I wish) **

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PROLOGUE

I sat on the balcony and sighed in content and peace as I watched the moon, round and full. I noticed how there weren't any stars too close to it, as if they were afraid. I wonder if there's a scientific explanation for this. I smirked quietly to myself. Science. If it weren't for science I might be leading a normal life. I might not even exist. But I've learnt that in our lives, we can't dwell on might and might not. It's here and now and to be honest, it's kinda scary.

Me and my thoughts were interrupted as Fang sat down and draped his arm over my shoulders. I snuggled closer to him for warmth. I guess I should explain. The night after we blew up Itex, which was about a week ago, I finally confessed to Fang - about how much I liked...loved him, and he had said he felt the same way. So now we're kind of together.

We were at a hotel right now, courtesy of my oh-so-useful credit card. But I really wanted to get moving now. We'd been here long enough – 4 days.

"It's cold," Fang whispered. "Let's go in." Yep. He just talked and talked all day didn't he? So we went inside (we had a room to ourselves. Iggy and Gazzy were sharing and so were Angel and Nudge.)

The heating of the room wasn't too good. I won't bother you with the details of our activities to keep warm. For the 7th night in for what seems like forever, I fell asleep happy – in Fang's arms.

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**For those of you who were expecting more Fax...sorry just not in the mood right now. But I promise you... the next chapter will have quite a bit.**

**Please review coz it really means a lot. No flames(for lack of a better word)!**


	2. pancakes and sunshine

**Well I have nothing to say at this point –except for the fact that im changing the rating to T because I have decided; spicy Fax details is what the people want, then that is what they shall get.**

**Lol that sounded so weird. sigh I need counseling. ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: All his, lucky him...**

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I woke up the next morning to the sharp sound of someone knocking at the door. "Max! I'm hungry, when's breakfast. What are we having, can we have pancakes. I really feel like pancakes, there's a kitchenette in each room so Iggy could make some. It is called a kitchenette right, coz it's like a mini kitchen. I just realised, if Iggy will be making pancakes we're going to need flour and stuff, who's going to go get it? Should I, I don't mind going if you want me to but I probably shouldn't go alone incase I get lost or erasers come after me or something." Ugh, headache!

I quickly got up before she could say anymore, opened the door, shoved the Max Ride credit card in her hand and told her to go the shops with Iggy to get stuff for pancakes.

As I walked back into the room I saw that Fang was awake. Well who wouldn't be after Nudge's last ranting session. _Hey voice, remind me to get a dog clamp next time we're at a shop. That should restrain her from talking._

_**No problem Max. Because you know that's what I'm here for. Your personal shopping list, that's me. **_

_Thank you Mr Sarcasm. _I walked up to the bed and leaned over Fang. "Good morning sunshine," I said in mock cheerfulness. "Don't ever call me that again," he mumbled.

"But it suits you so well!"

"Max..."

"What's wrong sunshine? Why the grumpy voice?" I batted my eyelids at him.

"What do I have to do to make you shut up?"

"Shut up? Why would you want to do that" I put on exaggerated puppy dog eyes.

The next thing I knew I had been pulled down onto the bed and Fang was on top of me, silencing me with his mouth. I immediately forgot all about annoying names and pancakes. (Because you know that's what Fang does to you.) Darn it! Why was he so irresistible...and such a good kisser. I felt his tongue running along the edge of my lips and willingly gave him entrance. And that is when I lost track of everything. (Because you know the feeling of Fang's tongue on yours can do that to you.)

The next thing I knew was the voice talking to me.

_**Max, I think you should stop now. The kids are already up and plus you don't want to go too far.**_

_Shows how much you know about my wants. _I thought snidely. But it was right, I realised. I was now on top of fang, basically straddling him, my arms around his neck and my fingers in his hair, while he had one hand in my bra!

I pulled away and whispered in a raspy voice, my lungs aching for air, "We should get up now."

"I don't want to." I smirked and got off him to go take a shower.

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**I know they are a bit short but I prefer to have liked a chapter for an idea, instead of having a long chapter with heaps of stuff crammed into it. I should have the next one up by tomorrow.**

**Reviews are much appreciated! **


	3. We're going where!

**Here is the next chapter. The plot actually develops in this, so yeah... enjoy!**

**R & R**

**Again...no flames please!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride**

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After lots and lots of pancakes for everyone, I decided to ask the flock if they had any ideas about where they wanted to go.

"I know exactly where I would like to go."

I nodded, "Okay Iggy, shoot."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we go overseas for a bit, not like to Europe or Asia or anything, but somewhere close. So I thought about the possibilities. We could go somewhere in South America I guess. But what I really had in mind was...Bermuda."

"I'm sorry...wh-what?!" I stuttered.

"Bermuda, you know like the Bermuda triangle."

"You want us to fly in the Bermuda triangle?" Oh god. I just cannot believe this. He wants us to fly over a place where planes and boats have mysteriously sunk and not many people have come back out of.

"Oh! Cool! That would be awesome. We could fly over there and try and see if we can find any other boats or planes that are like sinking into the ocean, maybe we could try and save them. But what if they saw our wings? That might not be such a good idea. Maybe we should go diving into the sea and look for like dead people or like boats and stuff. I wonder if there are fish in the ocean, would they still stay alive...or would they die too seeing as everyone else who goes there dies. We aren't going to die are we max, coz we can just you know fly away if we see any danger right? So are we going to go max, I think we should it would be fun because –

"Nudge! Shut up!"

"Gazzy! Don't tell Nudge to shut up, it's not nice. Nudge, just...shut up."

Gazzy rolled his eyes at me and Fang smirked.

Angel who had been quiet spoke up "Max, can we please go?"

Oh damn it! She was using the puppy dog eyes on me.

"Okay... I guess. I mean it'd not like anything could actually happen to us right? Those are after all just myths about the other dimension stuff..." Iggy slapped hi-fives with Fang, while the younger kids cheered.

"Alright then, I guess it's off to Bermuda."

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	4. Uh Oh

**Well I'm trying to make this chapter more than like 5 words long...lol.**

**Hopefully it will work out. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride. **

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It had been four and a half hours since we'd last stopped at the Bahamas. I was tired and sore, no doubt the rest of the flock was too. I was staring down into the ocean, trying to spot something out of the ordinary, something that would confirm all those rumors and scary stories about this stretch of the ocean that was called the Bermuda Triangle. But I couldn't see anything wrong, just your average water, with its waves and swells. I felt someone's gaze on me and looked up to meet Fang's dark eyes. "What?" I asked, getting self-conscious. He inclined his head to the left, I scanned the area he was pointing to and sighed in relief as I saw land.

"Yo, guys. Bermuda, out to the left." With that all six of us changed direction and flew on to the island

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Bermuda was really nice. From the air it had looked blob shaped and all green and yellow and light blue. Now we had landed on the beach and it was fantastic! The sand was a lovely yellow-white, the water looked clear and pristine, there were exotic palms outlining the edge, and I just realised that I sound like such a weirdo. I mean, fantastic, lovely, exotic, pristine? God, our little visit to a real school must have affected me more than I realised.

We were all just sitting there taking in the beauty of the place. Gazzy was the first to speak up and break the spell. "Max, can we please go swimming?"

"I don't see why not." He went racing shortly followed by Angel and Total – whom I had been carrying for the whole flight and was not happy about. Iggy and Fang dug around for some protein bars.

I looked at the little kids playing in the water and felt like joining in.

"You coming, Nudge?" I asked as I took off my sweatshirt and started to walk down the water's edge.

"Sure!"

The water was cold but refreshing. Soon I found myself in a water fight with Angel and Nudge. I tried to tell them to stop, but it's kind of hard to speak when salt water is being splashed in your face. So in the end, I just gave up and swam away, out to sea. I heard a splashing behind me and looked over to see Fang had followed. I stopped swimming and looked around to realize that we were well away from the shore now, maybe 200m.

I looked at Fang again and saw that he was slightly grinning. "What are you so happy about Mr. Show No Emotion?"

He didn't answer, just swam over to me and crashed his lips on mine. And first I tried to pull away because I was afraid I would forget to kick and thus cause myself to drown, but soon I forgot about everything and kissed back just as hard. Our tongues found each other and I was in heaven.

Finally air became a necessity and we pulled away, only to hear angel scream loudly.

One glance at the beach and my heart was in my throat. Erasers had swarmed the area and had hold of the others. But before I could do anything, four large erasers suddenly popped out of the water next to us and the next thing I knew – WHAM!

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When I woke up, I was at the one place that I dreaded most, in a dog crate, at the school. I frantically looked around for my flock. They were all in crates just like mine. I saw that Fang, Angel and Iggy were on the other end of the room, and Nudge was next to Gazzy, who was next to me. I searched around for Total and realised that he was curled up next to Angel in her cage.

Apparently I was the last one to wake up because they were all looking at me waiting for instructions. I reached out to ruffle Gazzy's hair and tried to put on a smile. I failed the second part.

Then a door opened and in came... you guessed it, Jeb.

"Hello. I've missed you."

"Well we haven't" I snarled. I might have imagined it, but I think his warm smiled cooled down a little.

"Ah, that's my Max, strong till the end."

"I guess this is the part where I say something nice about you...sorry, I got nothing."

I saw his jaw tighten as he walked out leaving us alone again.

Now to get down to business, "Okay guys, here's the plan."

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**Oh Yay! More than half a page long! Still, not very long. Sorry!**

**The next chapter will be up once I have actually thought of the plan Max is talking about...lol**

**Review!**


	5. Discovery

**Okay I have an idea –thanks to a fabulous reviewer- for the plan to escape. It's pretty basic, but so basic, it just might work. Lol**

**Well here is the next chapter...and guess what? I'm thinking I'm gonna let out the 'central conflict' (as English teachers would say) in this one...**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride**

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"Okay guys, here's the plan."

"Max," Angel cut in, "you don't have a plan..."

"Angel, what have I said about reading minds?" I heard Gazzy snigger and gave him a sharp look.

"Okay fine, I don't have a plan. Anyone got any ideas." Iggy smiled and reached into his pocket and got out a paper-clip. I gave him one of my looks that say As-if-that-is-going-to-work-and-why-do-you-have-one-of-those-any-ways. But seeing as Iggy is blind, that didn't work out too well. "Iggy, are you sure this is going to work?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay fine." I watched as his quick fingers quickly undid his own lock and then he came over and freed everyone else as well. "What now?" Fang said.

"Well I was thinking we just run."

"Erasers?"

"Then we fight them." I replied sounding more confident than I felt. I heard Gazzy mutter something to Iggy. "This should be interesting."

Ignoring him, I walked to the door and opened it, surprisingly it wasn't locked. I found myself staring at the back of a huge eraser. I brought my fists down hard on his head, knocking him out. Luckily for us there was only one and he hadn't managed to call for help before he passed out. I motioned for the rest of the flock to come out and led them down a fluorescent white hallway. We moved as quietly as possible. But luckily the whole place seemed deserted. Halfway down the corridor, we found a window. I signaled for angel to climb out and for the others to follow. Fang was the last one to go before me. I was about to climb but while I was waiting for the others to get out, I had looked into one of the rooms that had an open door. There was a table in the room with a stack of papers on it. I quickly went in and had a look at the page on top. My breath caught. It was exactly like the coded pages we had found at the Institution for higher living. In fact, I think it WAS the same pages. I grabbed it and went out the window to find the flock waiting. We flew away from the school and found a cave for the night.

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"Okay, Gaz, Nudge, Angel, Bed. Now." I heard a few groans.

"Oh Max, can't I just stay up. Please? I'm not even tired. Plus, I'm only three years younger than you guys, why do I always have to go to sleep early. It's not fair. I want to stay up and have a look at those papers that you stole from the school. I wonder what's in them. Could they be about us? Or like other experiments like us. I think –

"Nudge. Please," I said putting my hand over her mouth. She tried to say something. I removed my hand to let her speak. "Sorry. Goodnight."

Amazed that she actually listened to me I shook my head and turned to Iggy and Fang. "Okay guys, this is what we're going to do. We are going to have a look at these documents that I found at the school. I'll do these, Fang, you can have these." I gave fang about half. Iggy sat there poking the fire. I think he was a bit upset that he couldn't help. My pages were the same from before. The same coded stuff. "Oh My God." I heard Fang gasp in surprise, which is very unusual for him. "Max, this is the coded stuff, only decoded."

"What?! What does it say??"

"Well it has information about our birth and our parents."

"Does it say where they live?"

"No. But, hang on a minute..."

He picked up one piece of paper and read something for it and then looked at another page and I saw his eyes widen just a bit. But for him that is like total astonishment.

"What? Fang, what is it?"

Still looking dazed he handed me the two pages. I quickly scanned them. One of them was my page, and the other was about Fang. And then I noticed it. My blood turned to ice.

"No. God No."

"What's going on?" Iggy asked, confused.

Fang replied in a strangled voice. "Max and I have the same mother."

"But that means..." a look of understanding crossed his face.

I finished for him, hardly able to breathe. "Fang is my fraternal twin."

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**Mwahaha**

**Now everyone hates me. **

**Hehe. I know completely crazy right? **

**But I just got the idea and had to do it.**

**So I leave you with this cliffy. I will explain more in the next chapter. Don't worry the story hasn't finished yet. There's a bit more to go. Review even though you probably want to murder me now for this really bad chapter...**


	6. flying away

**Hey!!**

**Lol**

**I've got some interesting reviews. Most of them consist of "NO THIS IS A MISTAKE. MAKE IT NOT TRUE!!"**

**Or something along those lines ;) **

**Well here is the next chapter in which I will explain this whole fraternal thing a bit more…**

**Also those people who want me to make it sort of mistake… don't worry**

**It might take a few chapters but I think I might give you what you want…**

**DISCLAIMER: (…such a stupid cliché) I don't own maximum ride**

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"Fang is my fraternal twin." I felt like I couldn't breathe. I tried to ignore Iggy who made no effort to hide his laughter. For some reason he found this whole thing funny! My face must look like a fire extinguisher right now. I was way too embarrassed to look over at fang. I mean he was my brother and well I had…I had made out with him for god's sake!! I wonder what he must be thinking…Oh God! He's probably thinking something along the lines of "Shit, I've hand my hand on my twin's boob! Shit!"

Oh Crap. I am so going to hell for semi-incest. Without thinking anything else I dropped those damned pages that had ruined my life and ran out of the cave into the pitch black night sky (tonight was new-moon). I got into hyper-sonic mode and sped across the dark countryside.

Hot tears and wind stung my face and my throat was clogged up with choking sobs. I cried and cried as I flew far away. When I finally stopped, I didn't know what time it was, or where I was. I crawled into a tree and tried to get some sleep. Memories flashed through my mind; Fang telling me he loves me, our first kiss, that heated scene in the hotel room, that time at the beach, fang holding those two pieces of paper, looking grave...

I'd only had a couple of weeks with him. So he was my twin, I knew it was wrong, but I still loved him. You can't change that.

It wasn't fair. 'Life isn't fair.' I remember saying that to Anne and her little FBI friends a lifetime ago. I curled up into a ball and wept silently.

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When I woke up it dawn. Cold and sleepy, but no longer crying I slowly got up and looked around me. I was in some sort of woods filled with tall trees. If any normal human had been up on the branch I was they would have looked down and fainted in fear, I was that high up. Above me the sky was a kaleidoscope of colours, yellow, orange, and pink, purple, and blue. I yawned and felt my lip spilt. I better head back; the flock would be worrying about me. I wonder if Iggy and Fang have broken the news to them. Probably not… Guess that would be another one of my jobs. I sighed and flapped my wings hard to get up into the sky. As I flew back to the cave I worried about what I would say to Fang, or if we would ever even talk to each other again…

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**Do I need to say it? Yes? Okay fine.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	7. Awkwardness

**So yeah, here's the next chapter. Don't hate me if it's bad coz I was having major issues with this one. **

**Disclaimer: sigh (stupid cliché) I don't own Maximum Ride. **

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When I reached back I saw that everyone was up and Iggy already had breakfast ready. When I flew into the cave, I was attacked by an upset Angel who flung her arms around me with such power that I staggered.

"Max, where have you been, we were so scared."

"I just went out for a fly."

"Max what does incest mean?" I did a double take. How in the did she know that word.

"Sweetie, where did you hear that word?" I said in a tight voice.

"I heard it in Fang's head...is it a bad word?" normally I would shoot daggers at fang, but right now I didn't want anything to do with him. Well one part of me didn't. The other was screaming for me to run to him for consolation

"Yes, well no, well...just don't say that word too much okay?"

I looked over to see Iggy trying hard not to grin, (it's not funny!) Gazzy who was looking just as confused as Angel, and Nudge was looking even more confused.

"Fang, why were you thinking about...well...you know that thing. Has anyone we know like done it? Because you know that would be so gross. Like eww."

"Nudge," I cut in, "no-one has committed incest, okay?"

"Well not yet..."

"Sorry Iggy, I didn't quite catch that. Would you mind repeating it..." oh boy was he gonna get it later from me.

"Nothing...I never said anything."

"Well, um, me and Fang have something we need to tell you."

For the first time today I looked at Fang, just for a second, to see him looking very gloomy. "We had a look at the papers I found at the school and they have stuff about our parents on them."

Angel and Gazzy were practically bouncing with excitement. I looked over at Nudge to see why she wasn't rambling about this and saw that Iggy had his hand on her mouth. Well that would explain it. Gazzy spoke up, "Does it have like addresses or something?"

"No, unfortunately it doesn't" Iggy put in for me. "Oh." The kids stopped looking so excited.

"But it has names! Look I'll read them out to you." Fang handed me the papers without looking at me.

"Angel and Gaz, Anna Perry and Daniel Perry. Your mum was 32 when she had you and your dad 34. Nudge, Heidi Marcs and Ashton Marcs. Your mum and dad were both 27 when they had you."

"Marcs...that's such a cool name! Dontcha think? Nudge Marcs. Yeah that has a certain ring to it. Of course I still like Tiffany-Kyrstal better. Btu as far as real names go... Mine rocks! Uh...sorry. Hey Max, what about your parents? And Fang's too?"

This is what I had been dreading. "My dad's name is Brian Smith, and my mum is Nicole Williams. They were both 16 when they had me and unmarried."

"Wow! 16? Hey isn't that the same age Fang's mom was?" Angel piped up.

"Umm... Well see there's something else we need to tell you."

Oh God, how are we going to do this? Well how am I going to do this as Fang has decided to not talk surprise surprise!

_**Max, you don't have to tell them. **_

What do you mean, how are we supposed to explain to them why me and Fang suddenly stopped talking.

_**I meant get Angel to help out.**_

OH! I get it...

"Max, tell them..."

"Iggy if you say one more thing about this, actually if you just say one more thing at all.."

I desperately looked at Angel for help. She seemed to get it because in the next second her expression changed to one of enlightenment.

"Oh my God Max!"

"What? What's she thinking?" Gazzy asked looking excited.

"Max and Fang have the same parents. They're twins!"

"But...that's not possible stupid. Fang is a guy and well Max is a girl!"

For the first time today I heard Fang say something. "Gazzy it's called fraternal twins. We're supposed to look nothing alike."

"Oh! This is so awesome, now we have four people who are actually real siblings...hang on. You two...if you're twins...but...you...oh my god. Oh my god. Is this what the whole incest thing was about??" reluctantly I nodded.

"Could someone please explain to me what's going on?!" Gazzy said indignantly.

Iggy, despite my warning, decided to fill him and Angel in. "well, you see Gaz, Max and Fang are all upset because they just found out that they are related by blood and that means they can't do all the stuff they do when they're alone together."

"IGGY!" He just shrugged at me. He couldn't have worded it to make it sound any more embarrassing than that! MY face was on fire and breath was erratic. A glance at Fang told me that he was going through the same thing but less obvious.

Gazzy and Iggy were silently snickering to themselves but the girls looked upset.

"Does this mean you're not together anymore?" Angel said in a small voice.

My embarrassment was washed over by remorse. "Yes, that's what it means." I replied just as quietly.

I won't pain you with the awkward details of the rest of the day. At night I sat there watching the fire while the others slept. I was thinking. Not about me and Fang, I had done too much of that already. I tried to think about other things. What our next move would be. The kids really looked like they wanted to find their parents. But they only had names and ages. Suddenly I got an idea.

I walked over to Fang's backpack and got his laptop out and booted it up. The sound woke up Fang.

"What are you doing?" he asked, not meeting my eyes.

"I have an idea."

I opened up an internet explorer browser and went to Google. I typed in the name of my...OUR mom. It came up with nothing. Then I tried our dad's. Still nothing. I tried it for Angel, Gazzy and Nudge too, same happened as ours.

"Well there goes that idea."

" I don't understand. There should be some mention somewhere." Fang mumbled.

Suddenly the laptop whirred and the screen went black. Then images started flashing on it, like that time in New York. Finally the screen came to a rest and red words were on it.

You still have to save the world Max,

You've had enough rest.

Find Itex headquarters.

Then a sharp pain hit my head, like a brain attack but far, far worse. I bit on my tongue to stop from shrieking and clutched my head in my hands. I curled up into a little ball on the ground and wished to be anywhere but here, even hell. The pain was so unbearable. And suddenly it was gone, just as quickly as it had come. I sat up from the shock of it, silent tears streaming down my eyes. I saw fang sitting next to me looking concerned and I hugged him hard, still crying. I had forgotten about the whole twin thing, and I think so had he because he didn't hesitate in putting his arms around me and tried to get me calm down, but I was beyond upset.

After a while, I think I stopped crying. We were still holding on to each other when it came back to me. No, not the pain, but the realization that I was sitting here hugging my brother in a very un-sisterly way. I gasped and sharply pulled away.

I briefly looked into his dark eyes to see regret and pain. I got up and ran outside the cave where it was raining. I sat on the ledge and put my head between my knees and started crying again. For Fang, for us, for the flock, for everything that had happened to us. I heard something beside me and looked up to see Fang. I turned my head away from me. He tried to put his hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it away. "Max...you don't have to do this to yourself."

"Just leave me alone Fang!" I barked, then whispered it again, "just leave me alone."

He reluctantly walked back inside, leaving me out there, become more soaked by the second.

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**I think that's my longest chapter yet...**

**Yay! I have like 49 reviews! Thanks to all my reviewers. I'm not going to say that I won't post another chapter unless I get more reviews, I'll still update as I would otherwise. But I'm hoping that we can get the review numbers up to 60! **

**Well I hope you liked that chapter. As I said, I had some issues with it, so I'm not sure how it turned out. **

**Well, the next one will hopefully be up by Sunday latest. **


	8. Talking

**I apologize in advance if this doesn't flow very well; I'm not really good at writing awkwardness between characters. **

**And a bit of topic but there is going to be a maximum ride movie after all!! Check out the website... Yay!! **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride **

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I tried to stay away from Fang for the next couple of days. And it was working quite well. I wasn't making eye-contact, or talking to him, I moved away every time he came within three feet of me. I think he was starting to get really upset and it broke my heart to do this, but I couldn't face him again.

My plan was going just fine, but like every other good thing in my life, it had to come to an end eventually.

"Max, can we please stay in a hotel tonight?" Angel asked.

Nudge of course, seemed to find it necessary to add something, "Yeah Max, I'm like really sore and another day in a hard cave or up in a tree just wont cut."

'Okay, it's almost dark so we'll stop at the next town and find a hotel." I tried to act casual but I was worrying about the sleeping arrangements. I know that the others would prefer the usual arrangement, but no way could I afford to be alone with Fang. So I spent the rest of our flight worrying about this.

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We walked into some inn that had looked a bit tacky from the outside, but it was okay inside. I confidently walked up to the desk; because I had figured out how to avoid confrontation with Fang. "Hello, could I please have two rooms that are next to each other?"

"Sure. How many nights will you be staying here for?"

"Just one."

The girl at the desk had her head turned towards me but was looking at Fang from the corner of her eyes. I started to feel anger but washed it down. What right did I have to be angry or protective anyways? He was my brother. I shouldn't have any problem with girls being interested in him. Trying to convince myself that I was alright I took the two keys she held out for me and led the flock towards the stairs. We had to go the 6th floor but none of us really like being in closed, confined spaces like an elevator, so we took the stairs.

Once we got to the sixth floor, I gave Iggy one of the keys. "You, Fang and Gazzy can go together." Not looking at Fang I walked past him and unlocked our hotel room and led the girls in.

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Angel and Nudge had gone to bed and I had told Iggy to make Gazzy go to sleep too. I walked out into the small balcony and looked up at the stars. I was in a trance just looking, not thinking, not feeling. The sound of the TV from the guys' room broke my reverie. Then I heard another door sliding open and then shut. When I looked over I saw that Fang had come out onto their balcony. Our gazes met for a few seconds. I felt my face growing warm and turned my eyes back up to the stars. My neck prickled which meant Fang was watching me. I don't think he liked being ignored because he cleared his throat in a way to say _you had better start talking to me now. _

"Hey" I stated lamely.

"Look...Max; we should -uh- talk." Wait? He sounded nervous. What was this world coming to?

"Yeah - I guess we should."

"..."

"So...umm Gazzy asleep?" He suddenly cracked and his usually impassive face was taken over by a worried and upset one.

"Look max, I don't want to talk about the others. We need to sort this out. You can't avoid me forever you know."

"You want to talk to me? Well you've got me. Say all you want. Or do you want me to say something? Well what do I say Fang. Do you know hard it is for me to be around you?" I was getting really angry now. My eyes blurred with tears and I couldn't think straight anymore. Only half aware of what I was saying I continued. "It's so annoying all the time to ignore you when I know you're looking at me. It's so annoying to put on a happy face in front of the kids. And the hardest thing is to try and forget that I love you and try and get used to the fact that you are my (insert swear word here) sibling." And then I realised what I had just said and looked away, ashamed. I was openly crying now.

"Max..." His voice sounded strained and full of misery. "Max, I –"

"Look, Fang... just leave it okay. I'm sorry I said that. I guess I can never really accept this situation. That's why I think it's best if we try and stay away from each other as much as possible."

Without looking at him or giving him a chance to say anything I went back inside and drew the curtains behind me. I climbed into bed and for the 5th night in a row, cried myself to sleep.

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We had all had breakfast and had checked out of the hotel. As we walked out into a bright sunlight I turned to face everyone and said. "Well, I've decided that we need to find Itex headquarters."

"Why?" Gazzy wondered out loud.

"Why do you think?!"

"Nudge, I'm sure you could have used a nicer tone. But, Gazzy, seriously, why do you think?"

"Does it have something to with saving the world?" I had to bite my tongue in an effort to keep quiet, but not much use it did because Nudge voiced my thoughts.

"Give the boy a prize!"

I could see Gazzy shooting daggers at Nudge, and something about that look made me feel scared for her.

"Umm, so I was thinking we keep going east and then head down to Florida once we reach the East coast."

Angel looked hesitant, "Max, what if that Itex isn't the headquarters?"

To be honest I hadn't thought about that but no way was I admitting that to the flock. So I improvised.

"Well, it might not be, but I think that's the best shot we have. Why, anyone else got any better ideas?"

"Actually..." Angel began in a small but confident voice. "I remember hearing something in one of the white coats mind. There was something about Itex headquarters and ...Sissisilli..."

"Do you mean Sicily?" Iggy asked looking confused. "Yeah that." She replied cheerfully.

"Alright then, brush up on your Italian skills, we're going to Italy."

A short silence followed. "And how do you propose we get there."

I rolled my eyes. Did that guy ever just go with the flow?

"I guess... Fang's right. We can't really fly over the Atlantic ocean I suppose." I thought about this. "Angel, just this once, I think it would be best if maybe you could talk to the airport guys. You know, be real nice in asking them for some free tickets. Convince them to overlook the whole passport – visa issue."

"You mean control them?"

"Well...yes, you could put it like that." For some reason this made her happy. Hmm, note to self: give Angel talk about not finding happiness in controlling others.

And off we were to the land of pasta!

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**Mmm, not really my favourite chapter... it will have to do though. **

**Well, I'd love to know what you guys think about it. **

**Please review! **


	9. A Pasta Incident

**Okay first of all... for those of you who are wondering, there is no 'deeper meaning' do Sicily. I just happen to like the place. **

**Also, heaps of people already guessed my original resolution; well it was pretty obvious, you know the one where like the papers were set up by Jeb. That. **

**So now I've changed it all. Except for the fact that it shall still be a Fax ending. **

**This is just a little filler chapter while I'm working on the big one. (I'm hoping it's gonna be big)**

**DISCLAIMER: Do you really need me to say it?? No? Good. **

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You would think that for human-avian hybrids, flying in an airplane would be no big deal. But let me tell you it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Even though I prefer our way of flying, it was pretty cool. Angel had managed to get us first class tickets so we could travel in luxury. There was enough food, even to for our umm... slightly larger than normal appetites. The seats were comfortable and well spaced out, we could even watch TV, which for us has been a rare thing lately. I had a window seat so I could look out. The view wasn't as good as when we were flying. Mostly because the plane was much higher up and even with our great vision, we couldn't see much detail. Once we crossed land and were over the ocean, it didn't make a big difference though. The ocean looked exactly the same as it does when we're flying over it, a rippling mirror that seems to go on and on forever. One of the strange things about flying in a plane was the clouds. I have flown through clouds before, but when you're in one you feel damp and cool. In the plane, we would look out and see white mist but we wouldn't be able to feel it (obviously), it was a bit weird. Like when you've been in the pool for a long time, and then when you get out, you still feel like you're floating in water, even though you're not.

It took us about a day to get to Rome. Angel tricked the customs people to forget about our passports and visas.

The first thing that happened to me when I stepped out of the airport was that the most wonderful fusion of smells exploded in my nose. The next thing was the sounds of thousands of people reached my ears. And finally I saw Rome for what it was. Old, cream coloured buildings surrounded the place. You didn't have to walk very far before you saw a statue. It was just a beautiful, busy place that really takes your breath away. You have to see it to know what it's like.

"Max? Since we're in Italy...can we please go get some pasta? You know you can't come to Italy and not eat pasta. It's like... a crime. Though I doubt you could go to prison for it. I mean if people went to jail for things like that, the prisons would be overflowing with people. You'd need to build heaps more, and before you knew it, everyone would be in prison, even the police. Is that possible? Can the police go to prison? Hey guys? Where are you going?" about half-way through her novel we had decided to walk away hoping it would get her to shut up and follow. It worked.

"So Max? Are we getting spaghetti or what, coz you know I'm hungry." Total said.

"Total, remember bark not talk."

How did we get a dog on the plane you ask? Just another perk of having a mind-controller with you.

-------

So there I was, 14 year old mutant freak who has the destiny of the world in her hands, sitting in some restaurant in Rome, eating spaghetti.

"Hey guys check this out." We all looked over at Gazzy. He had...how do I say this nicely, well there is no nice way... he took a piece of spaghetti, put it in his mouth, and somehow managed to make it come out of his nose. How he did that I will never know, nor shall I want to. A chorus of eww's could be heard from Angel, and Total. Fang had a look of distaste on his face.

"Gazzy, if you do that again I shall...I'll... look you don't want to know. Please don't do that again."

Iggy looked confused. "What's he doing?" Fang filled him in for us. "Oh Gross! Gaz. That is not cool."

"I think I'm going to throw up!" Nudge gasped.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say that I've just lost my appetite. I'll pay the check and then we can go."

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**That was mainly for those Gazzy lovers. Yes, he does have a very...let's say... unique sense of humor. **

**You know what they say! Reviews are the sincerest form of flattery. Well they should say that...**


	10. An Italian Encounter

**I know I promised to make this chapter long and action packed… but I've kind of been putting off writing this because I kind of lost that whole creative thing for a while… **

**The thing is though I set myself a deadline (tomorrow), and I swore to myself that I would meet it. So I decided to write a quick chapter, I would have done longer, but I have no time today - Because I'm packing. Me and my family are going away for a few days. This also means I won't be able to update for about a week, until I get back. But, we are doing A LOT of driving, and all my time in the car will be spent with an I-pod on my lap, and a notebook and pen in my hand. So if all goes as planned, I'll have a few new chapters ready to post up when I come back!!**

**Also, it has been pointed out to me that my description of Rome is very unrealistic and lacks that certain wow factor. This is because I have never actually been to Italy, so pardon moi...no wait that's French... Hmm I don't think I know how to say excuse me in Latin...**

**p.s. the names and places in this chapter are not made up, I used Google Earth to get actual fact.**

**Well before I make you all go brain-dead with the constant stream of babble, here is the next chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride**

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**It was midnight and we were flying high over Vatican City. The view was overwhelming. There were still so many lights on, even at this time of the night. As we flew over Saint Peter's Basilica, I glanced around at my flock. Angel was clutching Celeste and flying without even looking down, she was missing the view. Nudge and Gazzy were talking to each other and pointing at things on the ground occasionally. Iggy was looking out to the West at the dark Italian landscape and the sea. Fang, he looked deep in thought, eyes not moving at all, looking straight down, eyebrows ever so slightly furrowed and mouth grim. I'll give you three guesses as to what he was thinking about.

I shook my head and turned my gaze back down to the ground. We were now flying over less lit up areas, and when I looked back, I saw that we had left Rome behind. We kept on flying south-west toward the ocean.

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We had just flown over the beach and were now flying over the sea. I could barely see the dark land mass far ahead, which had to be our destination, Sicily.

---------

"We need a map." Gazzy stated plainly.

I rolled my eyes. "You don't say!"

We'd been flying around Sicily for 15 minutes now, trying to find Itex. Needless to say, we have been highly unsuccessful so far.

"Okay guys, land now, we'll go into that town over there and look up Itex."

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We walked into a library in the Italian town of Siracusa. Nudge hopped onto one of the computers and immediately started doing her magic, while the rest of us watched the screen in slight confusion. After only about 30 secs, she sat back smiling. "This is it Max, exact location of Itex headquarters. Oh look, how interesting, it's no--"

"Nudge!" Fang sighed and rolled his eyes at me, causing me to go red, and then a second later, him too.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and studied the computer screen. It turns out that the Itex wasn't actually in Sicily. It was looked to be on this small island to the south of Italy. I scrolled in on that island and saw that it was actually three islands, Malta, Comino, and Gozo. Itex was on the Eastern tip of the smallest one – Comino. According to the information blurb, apart from the Itex Company, there were only about four people on that island. Sounds like the perfect place for a secret facility planning to take over the world.

I memorized the map and led the flock out of the library. Squinting my eyes from the sudden brightness of the sun, I turned towards the rest of the flock. "How about we start heading towards Comino?"

"Max, can we please just rest up, we've been flying all night and half of the day. Can we like, I dunno, get a room in a hotel or something? And get some food??!? Food would be so great right now. I'm really hungry."

"Max, she's right. We're all tired and hungry." Fang said in a barely audible voice.

"I guess… fine. We'll go tomorrow. Right now, let's go get something to eat."

"Can we go to like a pizza joint or something?"

"Yes Ig, we can."

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**(A/N sorry for interrupting, but I'd just like to say, this was the thing I was looking forward to the whole while… ordering the food!! Also I have actually included real Italian pizzas, not ones I made up.)**

The waitress came up to our table with a very fake smile. "Hi, my name is Cathy, would you like to place your order now?"

I began, "Yeah, sure," Feeling adventurous I went for a really interesting sounding pizza – one that included artichokes– "I would like three Capricossa_s, _a strawberry milkshake, and a diet coke."

"Let me just clarify that, three capricossa's strawberry milkshake and diet coke. Your order won't be long."

"Umm…sorry I just ordered for myself. The others still have to go." She turned back to us with a pained expression on her face. "You want three whole pizzas for yourself?" I nodded at her and motioned for Angel to place her order. "Can I please have two Naplotenas, and a spider." She smiled sweetly.

"I'll have the same as her." Gazzy put in. scribbling that down, Cathy then turned to Nudge, looking extremely confused but managing to keep that fake smile planted on.

Nudge took a deep breath and began. "I would like two of these… Alla Fiamma. And a Regina. But I also wanted to get this other one. Okay scratch that. I'll have one –not two, just one – Alla Fiamma, one regina, one ortollona, and one quattro formigo. Oh and I also want a spider, a fanta, and some bottled water." I could see Cathy's jaw muscle twitch as she looked expectantly at Fang. " Just three Margerita's please."

Cathy asked him in a strained voice. "any drink with that?"

"Two glasses of lemonade."

When she turned to Iggy, I tapped him on the back of his hand to let him know it was his turn to order. "Uh… I'll just have the same as him." He said quickly, jerking his thumb at Fang.

Cathy turned back to me, the smile completely wiped off by now. "Are you sure you're not over ordering? I mean, usually one pizza is enough to feed two or three adults, and here you have ordered…17 pizzas…just for the six of you. That is a lot of food."

"Look… Cathy is it? Cathy, we're just really hungry. Now I have the money to pay for all of this. And we have big appetites. We'll be just fine, finishing the food. Oh and also, could you just add garlic bread to the orders, a lot of it? Thanks."

Looking slightly disturbed she walked off to the kitchens without another word.

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After that big dinner, and more stares from Cathy, we exited the restaurant and looked around for a hotel. Angel looked like she was just about to drop dead from exhaustion so I just took us into the first one I found. I got three keys from the reception and we filed into the elevator. Again I was faced with the rooming problem but Nudge came to my rescue. "I want to share with Max this time. Is that okay angel?"

A sleepy looking angel nodded. "I'll go with Gazzy then."

That left Fang and Iggy. Perfect.

As soon as we got into our rooms, everyone fell asleep. That probably wasn't the best idea, because that meant…no one was on watch.

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**There you go… a mini cliffie to last you the week. **

**What did you guys think of the chapter? To me it felt kind of forced, but that's one opinion. Needless to say reviews are loved! **

**Well until next time!! (god knows how I shall survive an entire week without fan fiction..)**

**Love Juhi**


	11. Fight and Flight

**Well this is the first time I've tried me hand at fight scenes so, hope it turns out okay...**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't claim. Duh. That's why it's called a DISclaimer.**

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I woke up to the cold night and the sound of something tapping at the window. I sat up and looked at it but saw nothing. Rolling over, I tried to go back to sleep. But then I heard it again. I got up and walked to the window. I let out a breath I didn't realise I had been holding when I saw it was just an owl.

I opened the window and turned my face up to the moon. Fear touched my heart like a cold ice-cube. A massive cloud of flyboys were headed straight for us. I quickly slammed the window shut and shook nudge awake and ignoring the constant stream of questions she fired at me, I began packing all our stuff into the backpacks. Speaking over her I said, "Flyboys are coming. Quick, go get angel and Gazzy." She scrambled to get out of bed as I walked out of the hotel room and pounded on Fang and Iggy's door.

Fang answered...in boxers... and nothing else. Blushing furiously I stared at my shoes as I told him about the Flyboys. "They must know we're heading towards Itex," he said.

"That or they just like fighting us...either works!" I mumbled as Nudge, Gaz and Angel came up next to me. Iggy, who had already woken up because of all the noise opened the window and one by one we all jumped out and flew out to sea – they opposite directions to the Flyboys.

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The flock can fly pretty fast when we want to – especially me. But you know, we're not as fast as robots. "Guys, looks like we're gonna have to fight them. They're almost on us." I shouted as my flock braced themselves.

I charged at the nearest flyboy. I placed a round house kick on his shiny metal stomach. He only staggered for a second before getting me in a headlock. I kneed him in a groin and discovered that flyboys don't have sensitive...er...you know what. With my upper half unable to move, I thrust my feet up and turned upside down as I kicked his face. He let go and fell into the ocean. Without giving him another thought I snuck up behind another and punched him hard in the back of his head. He turned around and tried to hit me but I was too fast. I beat my wings hard and rose up, then dropped down fast – right on him, angling his head in an awkward and no doubt painful way. While he was recovering I flew dropped down behind him and kicked him in the back with both legs. He dropped like a stone.

I looked around to see everyone else taking on a couple of erasers themselves. I saw a whole bunch heading for me but before I could make another move, I was hit with a sharp pain in my head. Losing track of the real world quickly, I bought my knees up to my chest and hid my head between them. Crying softly in agony, I felt air rushing past my ears, from which I gathered that I was falling. The only coherent thought in my head was; oh god not now!

And then it went as quickly and surprisingly it had come. As soon as I felt the pain start to fade away, I flung my wings out and luckily caught an updraft which suspended me in mid air long enough for me to collect myself together and start flapping. I looked up and saw two of the flyboys also falling. I'm guessing they were chasing after me, considering the kept droning _Chase the mutant Chase the mutant _

Only they didn't stop dropping when I did, but instead kept plummeting down and crashed into the ocean. I saw them rise to the surface crackling. The red light went out of their eyes and they stopped moving before slowly sinking.

I softly laughed in relief. Then I flew up to meet the flock, who were still caught up in the fight.

"Follow me!"

With that I dived down into the water. I heard the muffled splashes of lots of other things hitting the water and around me lots of crackling and red lights that slowly faded to leave nothing but the impenetrable darkness of the water. Almost about to run out of breath I swam to the surface to see the flock already waiting for me.

"Woah! That was so cool" Gazzy said. He and Iggy slapped high fives. Rolling my eyes at them I started swimming back to shore. We could have flied but it wasn't all that far away, and plus, I wanted to swim.

My mind wandered back to the last time I'd been swimming –at the beach in Bermuda, with Fang- and I felt a blush creeping up my face for the second time that night. God I was turning into a sap! A stolen glance at Fang informed me that he was also thinking about the same thing because he was openly staring at me with a strange expression on his face I couldn't decipher. Our eyes locked and for a few moments everyone seemed to stop moving, the water seemed to stop flowing and the earth stopped. Then he looked away breaking the trance.

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When we got to land, we changed into our dry clothes and set off for Itex headquarters.

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**I have tried every single time to make my chapters long, but it just doesn't work. I think it's mostly because, I don't end a chapter because it's long enough or short enough or I feel like it. I usually tend to dedicate a chapter to an idea. It's like paragraphs. They help shape the story. So yeah. That's my excuse. Lol**

**If you review, I'll give you a cyber-hug from a flock member of your choice:D**


	12. Headquarters of evil!

**Oh look another miniscule chapter!! Yay! Party over here! Lol sorry I've been watching too much of That's So Raven recently... I don't think I can ever grow out of Disney Channel...but you don't really care do you... no...Okay. **

**DISCLAIMER: I doubt Patterson writes Fan-fiction...it's not a very easy-to-believe concept.**

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As we approached the small island of Comino, I scanned the land for sign of human life. Nothing- just miles of dirt and a couple of unused roads that stretched across the island. On the north western tip I saw a few white buildings where I guess the four occupants of the place lived.

Itex stood out in the barren east end where even the roads didn't go. It was a series of about 6 or 7 buildings all close together. I felt a tingle of excitement and dread at the same time, as we got closer to the headquarters of evil.

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We landed softly on one of the buildings that made up Itex. The entire complex was surrounded by an extremely high barbed wire fence that probably had electricity flowing through it.

"Unless you want to end up fried, don't touch the fence."

"Okay Max thanks for the visual." Iggy said.

"Iggy you're blind."

"Doesn't mean I can't imagine what I will look like after I've been barbecued!" I gave him the evil eye and then mentally kicked myself when I remembered he couldn't see.

There were security guards every 100 meters, so we'd have to stay in the shadows. I led the flock to the edge of the rooftop. There was a small gap in between the next building. It was just about big enough for a bird kid and its wings.

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Itex should really get some surveillance/security in their ventilation system cause' guess what? If you said that we were sneaking in through the vents, well done.

_Okay voice, where to now?_

_**What am I, a GPS? **_

_Look, do you want me to save the world or not?_

_**Fine, I'll tell you. Second left, and then fifth right then another quick right, third window on the left. **_

_Uh...okay. Thanks. _

Following the Voice's commands I led us to the window. Unscrewing the nails I pulled the window out and set it aside. I checked to make sure it was empty, and then one by one we dropped into the room below. I looked around. It was a small dark room that was empty except for one wall where there a few empty chairs, a table that had a lot of different switches and dials on it, and up on the wall there were lots of small TV screens that showed us live footage of various areas of the Itex complex.

Now that we were in, we had to work on destroying Itex. And not just this one, every single Itex in the world. And I'm guessing there are a lot.

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**Try and guess how I'm going to destroy Itex and save the world and if you're right you'll get a whole box of Lindtor chocolates - cyber Lindtor chocolates that is. **

**Oh and you actually have to review and tell me what your guess is coz I'm not a mind-reader like Angel. **

**I might not be able to update for a while coz I'm a little stressed out right now. But expect the new chapter in a week by the latest. See ya! **


	13. The Destroying

**Wow... three weeks since I last updated. Sorry guys! I lost track of time. It's that time of the year where everything is going by so fast and before you know it, you're already into Week 5... **

**You're all going to laugh at this next... it's so unbelievingly clichéd. But I didn't really have any other ideas. (I'm talking about destroying Itex) **

**Although Iggy and Gazzy blowing it up is a good idea... it's only going to destroy that one branch of Itex. And there's a heck of a lot of branches. I doubt the flock wants to go to every single one. I needed something that would destroy them all in one move. **

**Hope you like it! Try not to be too put off... lol ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own maximum ride.**

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I surveyed the monitors. Most of them showed empty corridors and rooms, all horribly plain and white, like the life had been sucked out of the walls. Cautiously, I walked up to the table – I'm guessing it's the control panel around here. This room practically screams the words _top secret_ and _important. _

"You know Max, I could just pull out a dozen bombs and this entire place could be gone." Iggy proposed, to the obvious delight of Gazzy.

Sighing I answered him "I wish it could be that easy, but it's not gonna work."

"Why not?" Angel asked, her eyes fixed onto a monitor.

"We have to find a way to shut down Itex. Not just destroy one branch, or even the headquarters."

"What do you mean?" Gazzy wondered out loud sounding really confused.

"We can't exactly go all around the world bombing every single Itex branch. There must be hundreds! We need a plan that will eliminate every single branch in one go."

I felt Fang's gaze making a dent in the side of my head. I risked a glance at him from the corner of my eyes and instantly regretted it. Hoping Angel was not prying inside my head I turned my attention to nudge, "So what's the big plan Max."

"Nudge, are you feeling sick?!" Gazzy asked with a sour expression on his face.

"No, why would you say that?"

"Well...let's see you just about made the shortest speech in your entire life."

"I can be quiet and un-annoying when I want to. I just don't want to most of the time." She answered with a big grin on her face.

"Right..." Total said disbelievingly. She poked her tongue out at him.

My patience was starting to wear thin. "Okay everyone calm down!"

"Max you don't have a plan do you." Angel said in a sly voice.

"How many times do I have to say it? There's always a plan." **(A/N oh looks its Max's fav line!)**

Suddenly Iggy tensed up. "Max, there's someone coming. We have about 20 seconds at the most."

"Shit!" Gazzy said in a hushed yell, which is a complete oxymoron but that's what it was.

"Where did you learn that?!" I replied back in another hushed yell.

"Fang..."

After that I decided to drop it. And right on cue the door opened.

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There was a tall, bald, pathetic looking guy in front of us, staring at us with resentment and fury. He was wearing a white coat and the badge on his chest said 'Eugenie Marvin Steller – Chief Executive Officer' Even though my education was limited, I had watched enough TV to know that this was one of the big guys. Not as important as the director. He didn't make decisions, but he got things done.

And then as if to prove that last bit right, he flicked a switch next to the door and about 5 seconds later 12 big guards ran in.

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Anxiously but inconspicuously, I tried to free myself from the thick ropes that held my hands behind my back. There were four guards pacing around while the six of us sat on the floor, with our backs to each other. We all had our hands and feet tied, and our mouths gagged.

Furious at myself for letting us be defeated like this I blinked back hot tears of anger.

_What am I supposed to do now??_

_**Don't give up like this. It's not over yet Max. You can make this work. **_

_It would kill you to give me a straight answer for once in your moronic life wouldn't it? _

_**Oh! Great! Just take it out on the Voice why don't ya?**_

_Am I missing something here? Why the sudden attitude change?_

It didn't answer...big surprise there.

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I knocked out the last of the guards as Fang went over to the door and locked it – not that it would stop them if they really wanted to get in but hey.

If you're wondering how the hell we got free, Iggy conveniently had a pocket knife in his back pocket and –well, I think you get it.

"Okay, you know how I keep saying there's always a plan? Well, this might be the one exception." That took me a lot of courage and self persuasion to admit. Usually I couldn't admit that sort of thing to anyone but Fang, but drastic times call for drastic measures. "Anyone got any ideas? Anyone at all?"

Silence.

"Thanks for all the help." I exhaled sourly.

And then, the door crashed down and a whole bunch of flyboys were at us. We immediately jumped into action. After a while, Fang discovered that they shut down if you hit the in the back of their necks, and that really helped us take them down.

But, it seemed like the numbers never got smaller. I soon realised why.

There was a whole crowd of flyboys at the door, waiting to step in when needed. I realised that we stood no chance. We were tiring quickly and there were god knows how many flyboys.

I tried to think of a way out of this while also attempting to stay alive and kill flyboys. Really, it's not a very easy balance. There was none of the usual adrenaline rush I usually felt while fighting, just a slowly growing sense of doom and the a strong urge to curl up into a ball and cry and cry till I hopefully just fell into a deep sleep – the kind you never wake up from.

_**I don't think imaging your own death right now is going to help you.**_

_Well, it's more help than you!_

_**Okay, you want help? Fine, no more games and riddles. Now I need you to do exactly what I tell you. Okay?**_

_Are you serious?_

_**Max, I never joke. You should know this by now. Move over to the control table, to the far right side. Just don't stop protecting yourself or that fantasy of you sleeping – yeah that might just come true. **_

I did what he said. Moving in and out of flyboys and my flock while throwing punches and kicks at any robot that came to close to me, I found my way to the right corner of the table and scrutinized it for some clue as to what I was supposed to do.

_**Now, I need to you to listen very carefully and do what I say as I keep talking right?**_

_Umm... yeah I guess. _

And so he gave me instructions. I turned dials and flicked switches and pushed buttons as he told me to. Suddenly the whole place was covered in darkness. I thick, impenetrable darkness and I couldn't see through it. I panicked.

_What the f—k voice? Are you TRYING to kill us all?_

_**Wait. It should come up any time now. **_

_I'm sorry what?_

And then a small red light turned on, filling the place with an eerie luminescent red glow. I looked down and there on the table, was a small red button, no bigger than the nail of my little finger, in a shadowy corner of the table, hidden from sight before. But now it shone up at me like a radiant beacon of hope. Memories of TV shows from my childhood came back to me. Some animated character whispered into my mind: Don't press the big red button.

Could it be...? Was it possibly this easy? Something so horribly predictable and unrealistic?

_**What are you waiting for Max? Do it. Press the red button. **_

I took a deep breath and obeyed.

And then just as suddenly as the darkness had come, light returned, accompanied by a red screeching red siren and lots of panic. Without another thought, I shouted at the flock to follow me and led them out the door, we ran down a long corridor looking for a window.

Several times we were approached by panicking people in front of us and we had to change direction.

Finally I found a large glass wall and smashed through it, sending shards flying everywhere. I looked behind me to see the flock following and we soared up into the air and kept flying higher up till we felt rather than heard a big bang. It pushed us all away from the source and a deep grumbling sound could be heard. I looked back down to see a big cloud of dust where Itex headquarters was.

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I led the flock back to main land Italy and we set up camp in some old abandoned cottage.

All of us were shaken from the events of the day. Nobody had asked for an explanation which was good, because I didn't have one to give them. We had dinner in silence and everyone got as comfortable as they could, and immediately fell asleep. Even though I was tired, I had insisted that I take watch and made Fang also get some sleep.

I leaned back into a dusty old armchair and sighed, sending dust particles everywhere.

In my mind, the whole incident inside Itex was playing over and over as I tried to make some sense of it. Finally after many attempts at guessing, I gave up I decided to put aside my ego and ask the voice what had truly happened. _Okay, so what went on today? _

_**You destroyed Itex Max. No one would build such a huge...empire without a full-proof self destruction system. **_

_So there's no more Itex headquarters? _

_**There is no more Itex. That button transmitted satellite signals to every single Itex company in the world. Itex is gone. **_

I tried to take that in. _Wow. So we saved the world. _

_**Well...no. The world will never really be safe. Something new will always come up. But you have completed your mission. You will never be bothered by the school, or flyboys or Itex again. You're free to do what you want. **_

I couldn't keep the smile off my face. It was over. It was finally over. No more flyboys or erasers. We could live our lives now. I wiped the single tear that had leaked from my eyes away.

_Umm voice?_

_**Yes?**_

_Thank you, for everything. For giving us our life back... actually for getting us a life more like it. _

_**Anytime.**_

And for that small moment in time, I could've sworn I heard emotion. A small sad smile in the voice.

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**Mm-hmm told you it was weird. But you know what? I actually liked it. Lol...**

**My story isn't over yet!!**

**We can't just leave things between Max and Fang how they are can we now? **

**Hopefully I won't take as long to get the next chapter up!**

**Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. **

**Even if you thought it was shit, I really want to know.**


	14. An Addition

**The rest of the chapters in this story – there's not many left – will be focused on setting things right between our favourite couple.**

**No, I'm not talking about Fang and myself...lol **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride. Nor do I own Visa...teehee**

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The next day was a more normal. I told the flock what the voice had told me, and they were thrilled. Nudge and Angel decided to pull the puppy eyes on me, and now we're in a posh hotel in Paris!! (The maximum ride bank card still works. And apparently it's Visa so you can use it almost anywhere in the world.)

I was in a hot shower, relishing the burning sensation on my skin and the feeling of all the dirt and grime washing away – just like my life so far. We were starting afresh and really needed to get a life plan. I guess we could try and find the flock's parents if that's what they wanted, but I would rather we all stayed together and tried to lead normal lives - as normal as we could get at least.

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The girls wanted to go shopping – and truth be told, we all needed new clothes and what better city to get them than Paris? So we dragged the guys to the malls and I brought everyone big shopping bags full of designer clothes. Well us girls got designer clothes. Fang, Iggy and Gazzy just looked at us like we were crazy when we suggested it to them. And then of-course Gazzy insisted that we had to eat lots of French food. We all climbed the Eiffel tower, but it was no biggie. We see sights like that everyday while flying. Then Nudge wanted to go on a gondola and wouldn't shut up about it, so reluctantly, I agreed. Guess who I ended up sitting next to. Let me give you a hint, it begins with F and rhymes with bang.

We spent the entire day roaming around Paris and it was tiring, so when night came about the younger kids fell asleep as soon as their heads touched their pillows.

I heard a knock on the door to my room. (we had gotten a suite with four bedrooms and much to my delight, I got one to myself.) I opened the door and found myself face-to face with my darling brother.

"Look, Max, we really really need to talk."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Not here." I nodded and went into Iggy and Gazzy's room to tell Iggy he was in charge till we got back.

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I followed Fang as he rose higher into the cool night sky, a dark contrast to the beautiful city full of lights below us. Suddenly he turned slightly to the left and started descending. With a smile I realised that he was leading us to the Eiffel tower. We sat on the little bumpy bit at the top and looked out at the city which looked way better at night. For a little while we just stayed there in a comfortable silence.

Then Fang spoke, "Max, we can't keep living like this. It's been hard for you, I know, it's hard for me too. But we have to get over it, for the flock. I'm not asking we go back to how we used to be because I know that's next to impossible. But I think we should at least try to forget about it and be normal around each other again. Max, you never talk to me anymore. We have to sort this out."

And at that moment, I couldn't argue back because I was in complete and utter shock. Fang had just... he'd just... I don't think that he's spoken that many words in his entire life put together. Recovering from the surprise, I swallowed visibly and was about to start when we both heard a shuffling noise, so quite it would've been in-audible to human ears. I looked at Fang who slightly tilted his head in the direction of the sound. Understanding, I nodded and mouthed _One Two Three. _

We snapped our wings out and flew around to the other side of the tower where there was a girl around our age with her back pressed against the cold metal. She had a look on her face that was confusion mixed with fear mixed with stubbornness. Overall it had a very exclusive effect. She had wild curly long black hair, chocolate brown eyes and slightly tanned skin that glowed in the night. And get this – she had smoky grey wings.

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**Review!! You know you want to...**


	15. Alice

**Here is the next chapter!!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride –if I did, the fourth book would most definitely NOT be called 'The Last Global Warming Warning' because that is just the gayest name ever and I can't believe JP would even do that... I'm getting off topic again aren't I? Okay sorry.**

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_Recap: ...there was a girl around our age with her back pressed against the cold metal. She had a look on her face that was confusion mixed with fear mixed with stubbornness. Overall it had a very exclusive effect. She had wild curly long black hair, chocolate brown eyes and a slightly tanned skin that glowed in the night. And get this – she had smoky grey wings._

Frozen with shock, I lost the ability to think and dropped a little before I remembered to keep flapping. Closing my wide open mouth I sent a sideways glance at Fang, unsure of what else to do. His face looked as impassive as ever, except for his eyes, which had widened by half a millimeter.

I turned my attention back to the girl. "Who sent you?"

A hint of annoyance flashed across her face but it was gone before I could even blink. "No one sent me!" She spat at us, as if insulted by the fact that someone should tell her what to do. "I know who you are." she began again a look of comprehension lighting up her sharp features.

"Would you like a medal for that?" I said snidely.

"Yeah sure" she shot back. "Could you put it on a black ribbon?" With a start I realised, this girl was actually a lot like me. Well her personality was... she looked nothing like me. She actually looked a lot like Fang, if anything. I was about to open my mouth to question her but she cut in. "You're Maximum Ride." It wasn't a question. Narrowing my eyes, I looked her square in the eye and replied in my no-nonsense-tone, "Who are you, why do you have wings, and how the heck do you know my name?"

She sighed, "I escaped from Itex, Florida three years ago. I'm also an experiment just like you but I was built to destroy you." I felt Fang tense up next to me as I curled my fists up into a tight ball.

"Woah, calm down! I'm not actually going to hurt you. Why in the world would I listen to those wackos over at Itex?"

"How did you find us?"

"I didn't. I had no intention of meeting up with you guys. I arrived in France a week ago. Call it intuition, but I had a sudden urge to see Paris."

Fang spoke for the first time, "What makes you so special? If you were created to off us, what special powers do you have?"

"Special powers? I don't have any special powers or anything. I'm just really strong, as strong as the erasers. I could take on one of you guys any day."

A smirk took over my face, "Yeah right. Wanna test that theory."

"I could. But I don't want to fight you. I want to join you."

"Umm... dude, we don't even know you're name." Fang pointed out.

"Okay, then. Hi, I'm Alice and you must be Fang."

"How do you know that?" I asked hesitantly.

"I told you. I was built to destroy you. I know everything about you guys."

"And we should believe you...why?"

"You're call. If you don't want me to join you, then I'll just go my own way." She said in a non-committal tone.

_**Max, she's telling the truth. She's not gonna hurt you. You can get Angel to check her if you don't believe me. **_

"Okay, fine. Welcome to the flock Alice."

Her guarded expression loosened a little and a smile lit up her face. "Cool! Where are the rest of the guys?"

"Follow us." And with that I start headed back to our hotel. Fang flew up next to me and whispered in a voice so soft, only I could have heard it, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"The voice said she's fine. Besides, I want to take her to Angel. She'll be able to tell us if she's lying or not."

Nodding, he surged forward towards the hotel.

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We had introduced Alice to the flock. And she re-told her breif story. I clued her in on how we destroyed Itex and she seemed very happy about that.

I got Angel to read her mind while she was eating. Boy did she eat a lot- even more than Gazzy! And she was thinner than any of us!!

But anyway, according to Angel, she was telling the truth. She had suffered an even worse childhood than us, and she wasn't going to hurt us because that is what the Itex people would have wanted. "She just wants to belong; she's never had any friends Max. She doesn't have a flock like we do. Please can she stay?"

"Of course Angel, I won't make her go away unless she does anything suspicious alight? I'll just keep my eye on her, and I would appreciate it if you could do the same, Okay?"

Smiling sweetly and nodding she ran off to find Nudge.

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**Where is this all leading? How does the new girl have anything to with the plot developing? And most importantly, when will Max and Fang get back together and how?**

**To find out more...stay tuned to 'We are family'!**

**Lol... I sound like one of those voice-overs on TV soapies. ****Review please! **


	16. Clarification

**A/N**

**Sorry about this. I hate authors note –chapters too but... this is kinda something I need to clear up. **

**Um those of you who have put me on their alert lists would've received an email with a new chapter called... erm... 'Kablooey'**

**Okay, funny story, I was showing my friend how to add chapters onto a story, and I accidentally actually added that document on. **

**So of course I deleted it but, I realised everyone would get emails. And I was –still am- very embarrassed. So sorry about that. **

**Okay that's all. **

**Next chapter probably up tomorrow or day after. :D**


	17. Realisation

**Oh My God! This story is so closed to the end. I'm so excited. :D**

**This chapter is very, very short; it's actually the lead- in for the chapter where everything is resolved!!**

**I might have the next chapter up later today or tomorrow. **

**DISLCAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride. **

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It was a little after noon and my flock and Alice were roaming the streets of Paris. Why you ask? Nudge wanted to go shopping –again! This time I was a little less lax with buying them things. But they seemed to be content just looking around.

I was still keeping an eye on Alice for two reasons. One, she might not be as good as she comes across. And two, she had better stay away from Fang. But I didn't have to worry about that one too much. Though she was polite to Fang, I think she was more into Iggy. She would look for opportunities to talk to him. Even now she was holding his land because she was 'helping him around' and Iggy let her though he didn't need to be led.

Sighing I hoped I was making the right decision.

_**You are making the right decision Max. **_

_Gee thanks for the reassurance! _

_**Anytime.**_

I swear I heard the voice chuckle. But that's impossible because that would just contradict everything it stands for.

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How I ended up in an art museum, don't ask me. It turns out Fang is more deep than I knew him to be.

"Max! Look at this, how special is it?! Kind of looks like Gazzy I'd say!" Nudge exclaimed pointing to a big white painting. Actually I'm not to sure you can call it a painting because to me it just looked like multi coloured paint had been spilled onto the canvas in random patterns. The whole effect was kind of nauseating.

Gazzy gave her a look as if to say –I'll get you later, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"You know, I have to agree with Nudge on this one," I said sarcastically. "Go stand next to it Gazzy, while I take a photo."

Of course he didn't listen to me so I looked over at Angel for some help. She smiled wickedly and then closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Suddenly Gazzy went all blank faced and mumbled in a monotone, "Oh look, what a pretty picture. Why don't I go stand next to it." Iggy, Nudge and Fang were snickering and Alice just looked confused.

"Angel can control minds." I explained as I dug around in my bag for a camera. I was about to take a photo of Gazzy with the painting, but some stuck up guy in a uniform came up to me. "Photography is not permitted inside this gallery."

"Photography is not permitted inside this gallery. Could you please help me get the stick out of my bum?" Gazzy imitated the man in a perfect voice –accent and everything.

Laughing at the man's confused and embarrassed expression we walked out of the art gallery and flew back to the hotel.

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As I flopped down onto the bed, I realised the stupid camera was still hanging from my neck. I went over to my bag to put it back in.

Something in there caught my eye. I pulled it out and realised it was just the papers from the school. I was just about to put them back when I realised something.

Alice wasn't in there. She had said she was a human-avian hybrid like us. So why weren't her details included in the papers? I flicked through them again.

Only Experiment 1 to 6 was in there. A chill ran down my spine. Was Alice bad after all? Was she tying up my flock as I stood here? Chucking the papers down on the bed I made my way to the door.

_**Max, wait. **_

_Another time Voice, I'm kinda busy right now. _

_**I can answer your question. **_

_You can? Okay shoot. Why isn't Alice recorded in the papers? _

_**She is. **_

_Excuse me?_

_**There's something I need to tell you, something I should have said a long time ago. **_

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**A cliffie! Don't you love cliffie? I sure do. Actually it's kind of a love-hate mix. I'm going to stop talking now before I embarrass myself any further. **

**Review!! **


	18. The mending of broken hearts

**A/N I'm so excited –last chapter!! Well there's still the epilogue… but you know. Or maybe you don't. Do you know? Okay I'm going to start writing before I hurt myself –or someone else ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride**

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Recap: _**Max, there's something I should have told you a long time ago**_

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_I don't like the sound of that._

_**Oh I think you're going to love this alright. But um just promise not to hate me too much. **_

_Would you just tell me?_

_**Okay. Don't interrupt.**_

_Whatever_

_**SHUT UP! I mean, please refrain from talking. **_

_**Now go get the documents you found at the school again. **_

_**Good, now turn to the page with you and Fang on it. Read out loud your details. **_

"Okay I feel completely weird talking to myself." I took a deep breath and began, wondering where this was leading to, "Human-avian hybrid, experiment #1. Female. Activated May, 28 1993. Mother – Nicole Williams. Father – Brian smith. Birth hospi-."

_**Okay, stop there. Now start reading Fang's. **_

"Human-avian hybrid, experiment #2. Male. Activated May, 28 1993. Mother – Nicole Williams. Father – Brian Smith. Bir-."

_**Now. Notice that it just says experiment #1- female. And experiment#2 –male. **_

_Your point being…_

_**I was getting to that. Youth these days… anyway, my point; it doesn't actually say yours or fang's names anywhere on the page. **_

_Am I supposed to be getting this?_

_**I thought you were supposed to be smart. **_

_SHUT UP!_

_**If you really want, but then you won't find out what I was about to tell you. **_

_Whatever just keep going._

_**Okay, experiment one doesn't have to be you, it can be any female human avian hybrid. **_

_OH MY GOD!!! ALICE!!! ALICE IS EXPERIMENT NUMBER ONE! …but the… why am I not on the list._

_**Well, to the white coats, you're not just any experiment. You were made for a purpose. **_

_Yeah. Yeah. Save the world. But wasn't the rest of the flock made to save the world too._

_**No, they were made purely for research purposes. To see how well you would react with them, to try experiments on them –like with Iggy's eyes, etc.**_

_Oh. So, why didn't you tell me any of this before? _

_**Well I was going to correct you but then I thought that it would be better this way. You see fang was a big distraction to you. You had to focus on saving the world. So I thought… I would just let that one slide you know. **_

_Fang? What does fang have anything to do with this…oh. OH. OH MY GOD_

Realisation dawned on me. Stifling a shriek of joy and pent up frustration, I felt tears running down my cheeks.

I wasn't related to fang after all!!

Alice was Fang's twin.

Not me.

Fang and I could be together again!

Chucking the wretched papers from the school down I walked to my door.

_**And one more thing Max. I've been hanging around to tell you that. And now that you've saved the world, you don't need me anymore. You won't be hearing from me again Max. Bye.**_

_No but wait. Where are you going to go? WHO ARE YOU?!_

_**Goodbye Max.**_

"Goodbye Voice." I whispered as I ran out of my room to find Fang, silent tears streaming down my face, wetting the front of my top.

---------------

"So what's up?" Fang asked his eyes unreadable. We were sitting on top of the Eiffel tower once again. The sun was just creeping below the horizon, covering the sky in a daze of colours.

I would have to tell him the whole story and the entire episode with the voice to make him believe me, because it is quite a far fetched story. But Alice looks exactly like Fang, while I'm the complete opposite. Taking a deep shuddering breath, I started.

"I'm not your sister, Alice is…" His eyebrows rose slightly. "Well, you see I was just going through my bag…"

And so I told him everything.

"and apparently it didn't tell me earlier cuz it thought that you were a distraction and I needed to get on board saving the world."

And I couldn't say anymore because finally I was doing the one thing I had ached to do for a long time.

If I could have my way, I would just spend all my time kissing Fang, but of course that would be inconvenient for everyone else… **(A/N I more or less stole that line from 'Eclipse' so I guess this is a little disclaimer for that.)**

His warm, soft mouth moved against mine in ways it never had before. Or maybe it just felt like that to me, because it had been so long since the last time. I lost track of how long we were there.

When night had fully set and the stars were bright in the sky, we decided to go back before the flock started panicking.

As we took of, hand in hand, I thought I saw a hint of a tear in the corner of his eye, but I must have been dreaming because Fang never cries.

---------------

We walked in the door to see the whole flock watching some French soapie called 'Extra'. Nudge looked at us and raised her eyebrows at our joined hands. For once she was silent.

I turned off the TV ignoring Gazzy's objective pleas. "I…we have some news for you."

I looked around at my flock's expectant faces. Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, and finally, I let my eyes rest on Alice's. This was a big discovery for her too, probably bigger than mine. "I'm not Fang's twin sister, Alice is."

It didn't go over as badly as I had expected. The girls squealed and ran around hugging everyone. Gazzy – well he just turned the TV back on. Iggy had reached over to squeeze Alice's hand and was smiling at her.

Alice's gaze kept flickering from me to Fang, confusion apparent in her pretty face. And so I started telling the whole story over again. (Gazzy even tore his eyes away from 'Extra' to listen!)

**°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸**

**°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸**

**That's it. I know the ending doesn't really sound like an ending, but you got to end it somewhere right? **

**Well I already have the epilogue all typed up. When will I be putting it up? Well that all depends on how many reviews I get… blackmail always works. ;D**

**Review! Pretty please with a cherry on top and sprinkles, in a boat of warm chocolate syrup with shortbread on the side. **


	19. Epligoue: My Happy Ending

**EPILOGUE!! See any small resemblances to the prologue??**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride. But I do own the story you are just about to finish reading. And it is a very good feeling to own it...**

**:D**

_6 years later_

I stood on the terrace of our house and sighed in content and peace as I watched the moon, round and full. The stars twinkled all around it, covering every inch of the night sky.

I was thinking about my past, about everything that had happened to us since Jeb kidnapped us from the school. You would think with the kind of life I've had, I would want to forget my past. But I don't. I want to cherish every gruesome, cruel and horrible moment of it. Growing up, learning to fly, losing Jeb, going back to the school –multiple times, rescuing Angel, breaking into the Institute of Higher Living, our time with Anne, everything in Florida, all the drama between me and Fang, and saving the world from Itex. It's all these things and more that define me. My past, my present and my future.

I shivered in the cold crossed my arms in an effort to regain some body heat. Me and my thoughts were interrupted as Fang came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

"Are the others asleep?" I asked him, my voice quiet.

"Yep."

The younger kids were filling the holes in their education. Gazzy and Angel were in middle school and Nudge was in year eleven. Iggy was still in Uni. He and Alice lived together in an apartment only a couple of minutes away. It'd been hard letting him go at first, but you can't keep them forever... He's been together with Alice for four years now. For some reason she never really connected with Fang –who's her blood brother, she's always been more into Iggy.

"It's cold," Fang whispered, "Let's go in." Ah yes, as you can see he's become ever so talkative...

What about me and Fang you ask? Well, my life is turning into a dream come true.

My flock is happy and settled.

The older three of us have all got good jobs. (Make that four –I still can't get used to Alice, I don't think I'll ever consider her truly part of the flock. She'll always be Iggy's girlfriend to me.)

I haven't heard from the Voice since that night me and Fang got back together.

I'm going to be married in 4 months!!!!

And the best part is, that every night I get to fall asleep in the arms of the man I love, hearing his steady breathing, knowing that everything is going to be just fine.

**:D**

**And just like that, it's over. I'm happy because I've written my first full length story. But I'm also kinda sad it's over – I was very attached to this story you see... but you will be seeing more of me in the future...for those of you who care. Lol...**

**Just before I finish off I have a couple of real quick acknowledgements. **

_**All my fabulous reviewers -**_**anyone who writes would know how great it feels to know that people like your work. Erm special mention to Bec [miss-melbourne or she'll kill me.**

_**Claire [mornir-brightflame – **_**I couldn't have done any of this without your constant technical and moral support. Thanks for all your help! (Especially with the whole destroying Itex kink)**

_**JP –**_**lol... yes not that he will be reading this but every time I think about Maximum Ride I feel grateful toward him, for giving the world six fabulous kids who will stay in the minds and hearts of many people for ever. **

**Oh God that last one was so unbelievably weird. I'm going really soft... lol**

**Well I really hope you enjoyed this story and hope you review it one last time. **

**Watch out for me. I think my next story might just be called: bring me to life**

**Until next time:D:D**

**-Juhi xoxoxoxoxoxoxox**


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